Geneva | Pakistan

Iran sees the chance of a good outcome from a third round of talks with the United States, its President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday, as a delegation left for Geneva for negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme. A senior US official said on Monday that envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are slated to meet with the Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in Geneva on Thursday. The two countries resumed negotiations over the long-disputed nuclear programme earlier this month as the US builds up its military capability in the Middle East ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic. Iran has threatened to strike US bases in the region if it is attacked. Trump on February 19 said he was giving Tehran about 10 to 15 days to make a deal. “In relation to the talks, we see a good outlook, tomorrow in the meeting that Dr Araqchi will hold in Geneva … we have tried, with the guidance of the supreme leader, to manage this process to get out of th...

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were to resume a second round of peace talks in Geneva on Wednesday, as Washington’s top envoy signaled optimism in its bid to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. The talks are the latest diplomatic bid to halt the fighting, which has killed hundreds of thousands, forced millions to flee, and decimated much of eastern and southern Ukraine. The United States has been pushing for an end to the nearly four-year war, but has failed to broker a compromise between Moscow and Kyiv on the key issue of territory. Two previous rounds of negotiations between the two sides in Abu Dhabi failed to yield a breakthrough. But US envoy Steve Witkoff, representing the Trump administration at the talks, said President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts had made strides in Washington’s bid to end the conflict. “President Trump’s success in bringing both sides of this war together has brought about meaningful progress,” he wrote on X, without elaborating. “Both parties agreed to upd...

Switzerland said on Saturday that Oman would host talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva next week, with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme. “Switzerland stands ready at all times to offer its good offices to facilitate dialogue between the United States and Iran,” a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman told AFP. On February 6, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in Oman with US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s influential son-in-law Jared Kushner. The talks were indirect, with the Omanis acting as mediators. Trump has recently focused his military threats on Tehran’s nuclear programme, which US forces struck last July during Israel’s unprecedented 12-day war with Iran. Trump said on Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the “best thing that could happen”, as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, ratcheting up military pressure on the Islamic republic. Go-between Switzerland has played a key role in di...

'No flood projects to tap $11b Geneva pledges'

ISLAMABAD - Chairman Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday addressed the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, where he emphasised the importance of parliamentary cooperation in tackling today’s global challenges.

ISLAMABAD - Senate Chairman Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani held a bilateral meeting with HE Mr Hassan Al-Ghanim, Speaker of the Shura Council of the State of Qatar, on the sidelines of the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva.

An eight-member delegation comprising of Kashmiri leaders and human rights activists has left for Geneva to attend 59th session of the Human Rights Council.

The United States and China on Sunday said that progress had been made after a weekend of talks aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff rollout. The increasingly ugly trade spat between Washington and Beijing has rocked financial markets and raised fears of a global economic slowdown and an inflationary spike in the United States. “We’ve made substantial progress between the United States and China in the very important trade talks,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Geneva after the second day of discussions. “The talks were productive,” he said, taking no questions but promising a “complete briefing” on the outcome on Monday. In a statement on Sunday, which did not provide any additional details, the White House hailed what it called a new “trade deal” with China. China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng told reporters the meetings had achieved “substantial progress,” echoing Bessent’s remarks, and described the atmosphere as “candid, in-depth...

Talks between US and Chinese officials continued into their second day in Geneva on Sunday, as both sides discussed how to de-escalate the trade war that threatens to inflict major damage on the world economy. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in their first face-to-face meetings since the world’s two largest economies imposed tariffs well above 100 per cent on each other’s goods. Talks were still underway after 3-1/2 hours on Sunday on the outskirts of Geneva, following eight hours of discussions on Saturday. Bessent declined to comment to reporters at his hotel before setting off for the talks on Sunday. But White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the Chinese were “very, very eager” to engage in discussions and rebalance trade relations with the United States. Hassett also told Fox News that more foreign trade deals could be coming with other countries as soon as this week. Overnight, US President Donald Trump gave ...

China’s vice premier He Lipeng held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China’s state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks. Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were due to meet He in Geneva after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world’s two largest economies soar well beyond 100 per cent. The trade dispute, combined with US President Donald Trump’s decision last month to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp global downturn. US President Donald Trump said on Friday an 80pc tariff on Chinese goods “seems right,” suggesting for the first time a specific alternative to the 145pc levies imposed on Chinese imports. The location of the talks has been kept secret, although a witness saw over a dozen police cars...